While college basketball didn’t use to rely on money to get the job done in terms of recruiting, the unfortunate reality is that it has become a massive factor in modern athletics.
On Saturday, On3’s Pete Nakos attempted to put a number on the cost of a Power 4 starter in 2024-25, and the results are shocking, to say the least.
“It’ll be wild,” On3’s source said. “Last year was the real initial foray into just how crazy things can get, financially and stuff. Budgets are way up. Dollars are way up. Just the overall money, every starter now for a Power Four team is making $500,000.”
While not all programs are blessed with the same funding and budget opportunities as others, the implementation of revenue sharing should help even the playing field among the Power Four. The difference? NIL Collectives still play a large part in recruiting, with some teams near the top end of the pool clearing a $10M budget.
“The top of the Power Four is going to be north of $10 million easily, probably closer to $12 million or even $14 million,” an anonymous source said. “Arkansas hit $10 million last year. I know that there are a couple of schools that have that target in sight and a couple that think that they’re gonna need to go, maybe even a million or two above that. I’ve heard lots of conversations around the ballpark of those numbers.”
While it’s tough to say which Big 12 teams will fall into that category this season, Kansas, Kansas State, and many others showed that it’s not just money that teams need to succeed. Coaching still matters when it comes down to the wire.
